a woman wakes up to find a man inside her home. how police are responding. we're following news where police are looking for a man who reportedly entered a young woman's locked apartment on hawthorne street early this morning. any sign of the suspect? >>reporter: they haven't caught him yet. the woman, we're told in this case, is extremely shaken up. she was alone here at this apartment complex and was completely taken by surprise this morning in her bedroom. police spent the morning combing through this apartment complex. they say a woman in her 20s woke up and found a male intruder standing beside her. >> a brief struggle ensued.

he grabbed onto her, and we believe he tried to force her down onto her bed. >>reporter: the man ended up running away. police arrived, but never found the man. investigators say the woman's front door was locked and chain. that doesn't make other women who work nearby feel safe. >> it's surprising. >> it's kind of shocking for this area. >>reporter: police say it doesn't appear the woman was sexually assaulted, but they're investigating. they want to find out where she was yesterday and who she spoke to in order to determine if she was followed and targeted or if this was random. >> we're going to consider this in our investigation because other crimes were of a similar

nature. >>reporter: police don't really have a good description of the suspect. the only thing the woman was able to tell police is that he was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt or jacket and dark pants and that he had an average or medium build. a plan is in the works to make open streets safer. just in the past two hours, oakland leaders announced three things that will be done to get more cops on the streets. new at noon, paul chambers joins us with the new plan. good afternoon, paul. >>reporter: good afternoon. members of the city council rules and legislation committee talked about the plans that they say is needed to make the city of oakland a lot safer. there's a population of 400,000 people, but only 626 officers on the street. some of the things being proposed, oakland police are moving 20 officers to the

streets, but before that they have to hire 20 civilians to take their place. they're also working on a contract that would let police patrol the streets and building an academy. >> our police officers will be able to respond much quicker and there will be a much more visible presence. >>reporter: these issues will go before council. n january for a vote. i'll continue to work on this story. coming up at 5, you'll hear from the police chief about the proposals. we're back on storm watch this noontime preparing for the next weather disturbance to hit the bay area. it is expected to be bigger than the fast moving storm that moved through yesterday. two more storms are on their way, and they're both going to

pack a big punch. we'll hear more about that in a moment. the great highway in san francisco is open, but the department of public works is keeping a close watch. it officially reopened around eight this morning. it was shut down in both directions yesterday due to flood that long overwhelmed storm drains. >> san francisco's department of public works is also busy preparing residents and businesses for the coming storm. sandbags have been placed around low-lying areas of the city. there's another 6500 bags stockpiled and expected to be distributed through the weekend. the department is also advising people to sweep debris around their homes and businesses to give stormwater room to flow. we're tracking a few light rain showers in the bay area.

we'll widen out the view and you'll see more activity. this will be sliding south approaching the north bay counties later this afternoon and into the evening hours. a lot of this will be directed right towards northern and central california. with that a lot of rank directed right towards the region. there's a flash flood issued until 7 p.m. a flash flood watch with a sharp rise in the creeks, roadway flooding. we're expecting a significant

burst in rainfall. here's the forecast model targeting the north bay. look what happens later on tonight at 10:00. first thing tomorrow morning for the friday morning commute, significant rainfall, excessive rainfall rates. we'll have more on the timing of the next storm and another strong storm that will move in for part of the weekend. more than that in a few minutes. new developments in the last couple of hours on a story we first told you about last week. the government is shutting down a historic bay area oyster farm which has been in business nearly a century. the brake's bay has been seeking an extension to harvest oysters. last week u.s. interior secretary tour had the farm, and this morning he said he would not renew the company's

lease that expires tomorrow, helping the area return to wilderness. the number of new applications for unemployment benefits dropped for the second week in a row to 393,000. at the same time there's mixed news on economic growth. the revised figures show growth of 2.7% in the third quarter of this year, more than twice the quarter before. economists it to be below 2% for the fourth quarter. a with big part of recovery includes jobs, and there's a job fair going on in oakland. this is targeting military veterans. >>reporter: that's right. this is one of many job fairs that are going on throughout the country as we speak, but this is not just for those in the military, but for their spouses as well. this job fair

called hiring our heroes includes home depot, chevron, even our local police departments looking for a few good men and women. >> i know when i got out of the service in '96 this company wasn't around. it sometimes can be tough transitioning your skills. if you're a mechanic, you can be a mechanic when you get out. but like me, it can be tough. how do i translate the skills into the current workforce? >>reporter: nor than 500 potential employers signed up. unemployment for post 9/11 veterans actually improved slightly. many of the people we spoke with are in the category that have not been employed for a while and others who just left the military and are looking to transition.

they're hoping to prove they're the right candidate for the job, and despite what they've heard before, employers say hiring veterans is the right move. >>. >> we're good people and want to work hard and serve the organization. >> if you've served and bank under pressure, you've seen a lot of difficult things in your career, maintained your cool under pressure. >>reporter: there's also a workshop to help them polish their credentials. this goes on until 3:00 today. organizers say they've helped 14,000 veterans find jobs throughout the country.

president obama sent two top economic advisors to capitol hill today. the white house and congressional leaders are trying to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax hikes that take effect if congress does not take action to stop them. going over the fiscal cliff could trigger a recession, some say. mitt romney was at the white house earlier today for a lunch meeting with president obama. his invitation keeps the promise he made when he declared victory on election night to talk with the gop candidate about areas where they have common interests. the two were to talk over lunch

in the white house private dining room. the president's press secretary said the president didn't have any particular agenda, and it was closed to the media. out of service. we were hear when police tested this emergency phone. we'll show you what happened and tell you why this phone is just part of a larger problem. more specifics on when the next storm arrives in your neighborhood and how much rain it will bring. as the dump truck continued forward, it hit nine other vehicles, so 11 vehicles totaled. >> a truck crashed in the east bay. the simple explanation for what caused it.

an unusual accident involving a big rig. the truck driver said he had a sneezing fit while behind the wheel. >> he claimed that he had a sneezing fit and unfortunately when you sneeze you close your eyes. he stated that he may have pulled the steering wheel to the right which caused it to go over and hit the parked vehicles. >> after hitting the parked car the truck bar recalled into this used car lot on east 14th street damaging about one dozen other vehicles.

the driver was not seriously injured, and the driver was not cited. oakland police need your help finding a missing 16-year- old. family members says she has the mental capacity of a six-year- old. she was last seen tuesday night after she left home and walked to the station and was spotted speaking to six men before losing track of her. she's 5'4", weighs 140 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. if you have any information, call oakland police. a standoff with a wanted man using grenades. windows were shattered at a home on holly park in myrtle heights. the standoff involves a suspect that's accused of hurting an officer during a chase

yesterday afternoon. >> later that evening at about 8:30 p.m. we received an anonymous tip that the same suspect was in a residents at the 100 block of aprille ton street. >> the standoff finally ended. police release this had mugshot within the last hour. he sun rendered after the hour long standoff. security measures at san jose state university may not be great. >>reporter: the tollbooth towers are supposed to provide immediate 24 access to a police dispatcher. >> they provide us with what

they need. you can press this and get the assistance you need. >>reporter: but problems playing the system. most of them are inside, but about two dozen are outside and are known to fail. we had police test this one this morning. >> this is john. just checking the phone. >> hello. >> this is john. >>reporter: does that work? could he hear you? >> no. he's now dispatching somebody to check the phone. >>reporter: then another blue light phone had gone down. >> it is a common issue. we're generally aware there's going to be at least one phone having issues. >>reporter: on this day there were at least four.

police blamed weather and the system. police say the university has made finding a long-term fix a priority, but for now the solution seems to be, keep checking them and keep fixing them. police were called to a fire at a house where marijuana plants were found growing inside, but did not issue any citations because they say the person at the home had a medical marijuana card and was legally growing the plants found in the garage. the fire was small, but did burn part of the garage. no one was hurt. we're currently tracking the second strongest storm that will be moving into the bay area later on today and early friday morning. right now the cloud cover out there and few light showers.

you'll see rainfall out towards eureka. the flash flood watch is here until later on today. a wind advisory, winds expected to pick up with gusting up to 45 miles an hour once again tonight into friday. also all the wind offshore generating higher speeds and a high surf advisory kicking in. as far as the flash flood watch, it begins 7:00 and lasts until tomorrow afternoon. i'll tell you, the commute tomorrow morning will be an extra challenge with excessive

rainfall rates and ponding on local roadways. here we go. the circulation is setting up the flow in the pacific, and all this energy being directed towards the region of the bay area. heavy rain for the morning hours. saturday periods of rain, but then by saturday night into sunday another strong storm, another potent storm still taking aim on the region. here's the forecast model. an increase in shower activity by 4:00 this afternoon. you'll notice the bulk of the action up in the northern half of the region, but look what happens tomorrow morning just in time for the morning commute. excessive rainfall rates. an extra challenge with the rainfall and strong gusty winds for the commute. easily a good 2-4 inches for the north bay. san jose around 65 degrees. more rain clouds and strong

storms in the five-day forecast. your weekend always in view. tomorrow morning keeping a sharp eye on that. periods of rain on saturday, then another storm will be a strong one scheduled to move into the region first thing sunday morning. finally a breakout there, a full day of dry weather expected monday. be extra careful tomorrow morning. it will seem like yesterday's storm was not a big deal at all. former president george bush has been hospitalized with bronchitis. he was admitted to the hospital in houston the day after thanksgiving with a persistent cough. we're told that the illness is not life threatening. he has a form of parkinson's disease. he's the oldest living former president at 88. we'll tell you where two tickets were sold in the biggest lottery jackpot ever. wait until you hear what

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there's some good economic news out today. pending home sales rose to a six year high. a live look at the big board, the nasdaq up 15, s&p up three.

hostess is seeking approval to give its top executives bonuses totaling 1.8, incentive pay to keep 19 high level executives during the liquidation process which could take about a year. at least two people are really rich after two tickets split a nominal prize of $588 million. one ticket was sold in arizona, the other in kansas city, missouri. no information on whether it was an individual or group. the cash option is worth $384

million. 42 states take part in the power ballotry. california is not one of them. there's talk about our state joining in. lindsay lohan was arrested after punching a woman in the face at a new york city nightclub. today on channel 2 at 5, we're on storm watch again. the places that could get the hardest rain, plus the forecast for your neighborhood. we're always here for you. thank you for trusting us for your news.